By Max Marin
November 12, 2015
City Council passed a bill Thursday that will increase fines for employers who commit wage theft in Philadelphia. The bill, introduced by Councilman Bill Greenlee, received unanimous approval on the floor.
“This new law will help send a message that wage theft will not be tolerated in our city,” a representative from Community Legal Services said in a statement. “Philadelphia has taken a vital step towards stopping wage theft and we commend City Council for voting to pass this bill and protect workers.”
An estimated $19 million to $32 million worth of wages are withheld from workers statewide in the average work work. In this same period, some 93,000 instances of wage occur in Philadelphia alone.